Well I picked up the shackles today and all the bolts and bushings to do this to my truck.. damn the bolts and hardware came to 44.00 the bushings are38.00 and theshacklea were 80.00. It would have been just as expensive to buy some custom springs for 180.00

Yea i returned the bushings the ones that were in the chevy leafs were still in good shape and i did the same thing. Welded the washers and nuts to the hangers. Hell of a lot easier then trying to get the bushings out

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I put the springs in with the chevy drop shackles and took out the 2.5 inch stock blocks. The truck rides real nice. Having the cap on the truck adds some weight to the back end which works out nicely, i havent put much wieght in the truck since i finished so see if there is a difference in payload.

Did you remember having any issues with the drivers side hanger moving it forward. When drilling out the lower front bolt hole(drivers side) that there was a brake line that pretty much is right were you needed to drill. I had to remove the plastic clip holding the brake line to the frame and then was able to move the brake line out of the way. Had i not noticed it before i drilled i would have possibly went through the line.

Did you remember having any issues with the drivers side hanger moving it forward. When drilling out the lower front bolt hole(drivers side) that there was a brake line that pretty much is right were you needed to drill. I had to remove the plastic clip holding the brake line to the frame and then was able to move the brake line out of the way. Had i not noticed it before i drilled i would have possibly went through the line.

That is why I put in my notes about being carefull of brake lines, fuel lines and electrical harness

Awesome! I might pick up some Chebby springs once the weather gets a little nicer....
Just a helpful tip: Whenever I've taken a bed off a truck, I always wirebrush the frame to get rid of the rust, and rustcoat the frame to help promote easier cleaning/longer frame life.

Awesome! I might pick up some Chebby springs once the weather gets a little nicer....
Just a helpful tip: Whenever I've taken a bed off a truck, I always wirebrush the frame to get rid of the rust, and rustcoat the frame to help promote easier cleaning/longer frame life.

Diesel, great write up man, it really helped me do my swap on a 2002 xlt. Although I did not have the same problem you had with the ranger hanger bolt being a different size than the ID of the bushing; Mine were both the same size.
I did the swap with a pack from a '92 2wd (3 leafs + overload) and I also flipped the rear shackle and moved it back about four inches for a better ride and also because I did not want all that lift. I ended up pulling the overload out of the pack as I did not like the way it rode.

Also for others doing the swap here's what I did for the parking brake bracket:

If anyone has any questions about the swap on an '02 id be happy to leave some imput!

Couple of questions:
0. 88-98 Chevy....what? Chevette? Silverado? S10? shit I dont know.
1. I dont see "shackles" in your list of needed items. Did you use ford shackles or chevy shackles? (or any shackles)
2. Whats that funky piece of tubing welded onto the drivers side front leaf mount? There was no mention of that proceedure. (ebrake bracket. nevermind)
3. Got pics of the lift and rear shackles mounted?
4. You didnt mention having to drill two new holes in the frame for each front mount. What kind of bit and drill did you use? I doubt my Harbor freight cordless special will do the job. LOL!
5. You should have at least painted the exposed metal of the frame after grinding. (you mentioned undercoating it all later. again, my bust)

I'm asking all this cuz theres so much damage to my 94 suspension that this looks like a really good option, but I cant follow these instructions. I would like to though.
Little help?

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Also; Sephix:
0. Big Question: How much lift would you have had before the rear mnt flip mod, and how much did you end up with after?
1. That inverted rear hanger looks like the bomb! Did it bang against the bed? Looks kinda like it will touch the bottom of the bed once its re-installed.
2. You moved the rear mount as well! Did all that work ok?
3. Did you remove a leaf? first pic has 4, last pic has 3.

If I had to guess, Id say that Sephix used a full sized Chevy when Brad used an S10 suspension, or some such.
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Not trying to be a prick, this is just how I roll.
I used to work in an evaluation laboratory at GE picking apart the new designs of engineers so that lawyers didnt have to.
Its all in the details baby.